Young people dying as stigma, misunderstanding prevent HIV treatment

When Saskatoon man Ian Longman found out he had HIV, it was two years before he sought treatment. He thought the diagnosis meant certain death, and he didn’t know treatment was an option.

Ian Longman almost died because he didn’t know treatment for HIV was available

“I just started hating myself and hating other people and hating what they were saying about me and stuff like that,” said Longman.

“Because I heard that you die from it so I thought that I was dying.”

In the months leading up to his hospitalization, he’d been shunned by his loved ones, who didn’t know that HIV could only be transmitted by sharing certain bodily fluids and not, for example, by sharing a cup.

Lack of education, understanding

It’s a lack of awareness that Sanctum executive director Katelyn Roberts said is common in Saskatchewan, a province in which doctors are calling the spread of HIV an “epidemic.”

“We have people in Saskatchewan who are in their 20s and they’re dying,” she said.

“And they’re not dying because of the HIV per se, they’re dying because they haven’t engaged in health care and by the time we catch them and we get them into the appropriate setting, it’s too late.”